Don Draper vs. N. Likes

First off, he’s super-hot. I’m cute. But I’m not as tall, as ripped, as quietly confident, as sadly sexy.

But second of all, he’s deeply unhappy. T and I are in Season 3 of “Mad Men,” and I’m struck by the depth of his misery. This is a guy who (spoiler alert? don’t read past the jump if you don’t want to know things that happen in Season 3)….

This is a guy who created a whole new life to escape from his previous life and family, and now seems to spend an astonishing amount of time trying to escape the new identity he’s created for himself.

I was particularly struck by this in his relationship with Suzanne Farrell, the school teacher with whom he has an affair in the third season. In the moments leading up to Betty’s discovery of his past life, Don and Suzanne are planning a weekend away together.

Now – I’m a slut. You know that. I like to have all sorts of filthy sex with women in addition to my wife. But (and maybe this is a black mark for me) I have no desire to spend a weekend away from my family with another woman. This isn’t a rejection of those women. It’s an affirmation of the centrality of my wife and my family in my life. For all the sex I have with others (and there’s not that much, really), I don’t at all crave time away from the family. I’ve had enough of that in my life.

Just add that to the list you may have been maintaining of differences between me and Don Draper.